rooben 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: RIAA Accounting: How To Sell 1 Million Albums And Still Owe $500,000

    rooben ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2011 @ 10:57am

    Advance -getting it wrong

    Keep hearing people talk about the advance as if this is the paycheck. The advance is usually used to record the album, hire lawyers, representation, touring, up front merchandise costs, and the rest is split between the band members. The advance is a LOAN, and all royalties are held until that is paid back- so while the record comapny is fronting the cost, they keep all revenue until the investment is 100% paid back. Those musicians dont get a salary, or any funds outside of that advance, unless they go find another source of income (touring, etc).

    Yeah, easy to say. Its your own fault for signing, but usually its between signing the contract or getting a job at McDonalds. One party holds all of the power, the record company is usually not that desparate to sign, while this represents the artists future.

  • On the post: Theater Owners Still Oblivious To The Fact That They Can Compete With Home Viewing

    rooben ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2011 @ 11:52am

    More to it

    3D.
    IMAX.

    This is what theatres are doing to counteract the home theatre. Far too many theatres are doing exactly what you are saying- stacking people in the smallest screen possible (200 inch screens...really? And they wonder why people stay home?), and no focus on the experience.

    Look at the austin drafthouse, or the arclight in hollywood, for theatres who are concerned about the overall experience. Arclight even charges a premium, but their theatre is full.

  • On the post: Smear Campaign Ramps Up Against Those Who Believe Free Speech Is More Important Than Hollywood's Obsolete Business Model

    rooben ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2011 @ 02:25pm

    Re: Re: What innovation resulted from Safe Harbors?

    Wow, Anonymous Astroturfer....

    You are completely missing the point, and keep falling into the same trappings as the the chilling report - PROTECT IP is a badlaw, plain and simple. There are already laws in placeto protect IP theft, as we see in the courts today. Piracy isalready successfully being prosecuted.

    When you have laws created and argued by people that have little understanding of technology, you end up with over reaching, bad laws.

    Hyperlinking to sites that have links to infringing content is the same as someone publishing a book on how to break laws. We may not like it, but it is still freedom of speech.
    The process of obtaining a warrant before going after a web site is a part of our republic's checks and balances - arguing against those checks is giving too much power to one part of the government - what's wrong with oversight? There is no urgency here.

    Finally, you really have no Concept of the internet. Fuzzy dice? More like the road the car/content travels on. No internet in today's age= no distribution. Content that cant be transported is useless. And since when do these companies have a monopoly on content? Look at amazonkindle - one of the top sellers is a self-published author.

  • On the post: Apple Threatens Wireless Industry Group For Daring To List Out Other App Stores

    rooben ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2011 @ 03:54pm

    Mac app store

    Wait, so the Mac App Store is actually the Macintosh Apple store? What are the Apple Stores then? They are contusing their own brand, let alone Amazon....

  • On the post: Do A Little Dance, Make A Little Love…Get Bodyslammed Tonight (At The Jefferson Memorial)

    rooben ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 02:15pm

    Re: Re:

    yeah i've been wondering about the comments from the people saying "you should just stop when they tell you to".

    Why do I get the feeling that we have a growing population of people who have not matured emotionally beyond "follow the law because they tell you to", and have moved into "do what is right, because it is right".

    These jokers seem to think that if you do what you are told, then everything will work out at the end. Shut up, stop talking, stop dancing, and comply.

    That is the slope towards the police state.

  • On the post: Do A Little Dance, Make A Little Love…Get Bodyslammed Tonight (At The Jefferson Memorial)

    rooben ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 02:03pm

    Re:

    You know, just because it is the way law isn't interpreted, doing things a certain way, because the government wants you to, doesn't mean it is right, or even legal.

    The government imposes illegal laws all the time. The job of the 3 branches of government is to balance and determine if the law is valid.
    Our governement has forgotten their job, and enact laws whether or not they are legal. Look at the Patriot Act - this clearly violates the 4th amendment by giving the government powers to ignore the need to get a warrant. Which is expressly laid out in the 4th, but that law just got renewed.

    So, to recap - just because the law says you have to do it a certain way, doesn't mean that the law is legal, or ethical.
    I don't recall the 1st amendment saying that congress will allow people to peacefully assemble when they have a permit, it says "congress shall make no law...abridging..the right of the people peaceably to assemble...".

    So no law means - no law, except when I want to control when people exercise their rights.

  • On the post: Is Google A 'Rogue' Website?

    rooben ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 09:47am

    Missing The Point

    The point of all of this is to continue to drive civil issues into criminal.
    Previously, the RIAA/MPAA would have to do this work themselves. Their lawyers, their lawsuit, they are the plaintiff.

    Now, we can drag this into the criminal courts, where you as the taxpayer is the plaintiff, and the infringer is criminal. This way, the US Government is the one protecting the profits of these consortiums. This way, they can continue to maximize profits, and let the taxpayer foot the bill on any issue that infringes on their profitability.

  • On the post: Guy Asks For Software Crack, Creator Provides Free App Instead

    rooben ( profile ), 19 May, 2011 @ 03:20pm

    Already Doing the Job

    Looks like his attitude is turning into sales - looking at the App Store, there's about 20 comments now from people saying that they are buying the app due to his comments on the site (or via Reddit).

    Hm...having dialog with your customers...discussing their issue...leading to others appreciation and more sales...maybe this guy is on to something!

  • On the post: The Senators Who Say Merely Linking To Certain Sites Should Be A Felony

    rooben ( profile ), 13 May, 2011 @ 02:18pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Out of the goodness of the prosecutors heart? How about when you get sued by someone looking for a payout?
    Why make this a law at all, if you think it wont be enforced?

    There are plenty of legitimate reasons for copyright and piracy laws. I find it funny that there is always a small army unleashed on this board to blindly defend all legislation, and everyone against it must be a pirate and wants to steal content.
    How about people like many here who believe that piracy is bad, but overreaching, moronic laws can be much worse?

    Simple thing, this is too broad, and can incur unintended consequences. Lawmakers really need to hire more widely education tech consultants, and not just the onse sent by their major campaing contributors.

  • On the post: The Senators Who Say Merely Linking To Certain Sites Should Be A Felony

    rooben ( profile ), 13 May, 2011 @ 02:06pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Simple.
    If you retweet a link to a picture that someone else took, you can go to jail, if the person didnt get copyright clearance, whether you knew about it or not.
    If you link to an article in another blog, then that person is found to have plagarized portions of the article, you can go to jail.

    If you send an email with a link to your grandma's facebook account, and she posted a picture of herself that she got taken by a studio without permisson, you have committed a felony.

    Understand the slippery slope? Do any of those activities sohnd like something an OMGPIRATE would do, or something an average person would find themselves doing with no idea that anything is wrong.
    Cant have an expectation to perform full copyright checks on every rticle, picture, tweet, etc that you might reference.

  • On the post: Wisconsin County That 'Found' Lost Votes Apparently Has Major Voting Irregularities For Years…

    rooben ( profile ), 18 Apr, 2011 @ 02:58pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Obvious sign of corruption?

    you know that ACORN doesn't exist, right? It was killed they lost federal funding, due to that guy making the fake video. Congress overreacted and killed funding, and ACORN collapsed.

    And I love how getting poor, inner-city, and other American Citizens involved with voting for their own benefit is considered voter fraud, because they primarily don't vote for the Republican Party; but things like this, well everyone should just sit down, shut up, its in the past we just all need to move on and accept the a&& screwing.

  • On the post: Am I Violating The DMCA By Visiting The NYTimes With NoScript Enabled?

    rooben ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2011 @ 02:51pm

    If any lawsuit comes of this, and NoScript is classified as a circumvention device because of the way NY Times is coded....
    Then I have a new business model:
    1. Create some content & copyright it.
    2. Go look for companies that make plugins.
    3. Analyze plugins for software that disables things
    4. Build a Paywall that can be disabled by the plugin.
    5. Encrypt Content
    6. Contact the plugin developer, and let them know that their software is in violation of DCMA, because it could be used to circumvent your copyright protection. You won't sue them, if they pay you $10,000 (or $100k, or $1m, depending on the size of the company). Then you change your paywall design to use the next plugin. Repeat.
    This can be used for permanent markers as well.
    Your welcome, Internet.

  • On the post: No Info Can Be Found About Mysterious Report Claiming Australia As A 'Nation Of Pirates'

    rooben ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2011 @ 02:36pm

    Missing the Point: Re: Re: Re: Piracy violates creators' rights. It gives money to pirate websites that have no rights. What else is there?

    While some will argue there is no harm, I don't think that ANYONE will argue the impact that Napster had on the recording industry. Before Napster, record companies controlled music DISTRIBUTION, and by colluding on price, they forced the price of physical media up, where if this was a free marketplace, the price would be lower.

    When a new distribution model was invented (the internet), and digital music production massively reduced the costs of creating music, the record companies sought to keep the same or continue to increase the prices of music, even though their costs dropped astronomically (you don't even have to pay for travel/hotels anymore, email music files around).

    What I'm getting at is that since the dawn of digital distribution, record companies CANNOT maintain the same business model. Yes, online piracy changed things. BUT - the cat is out of the bag. These businesses can moan and complain and pay for legislation, but it won't change the fact that an entire generation grew up thinking that paying $20 for 10 songs is stupid. THEY WILL NEVER COME BACK. Its like taxes, once they go up, they've gone up. Kids will never see the value of an album at the price point RIAA wants.
    The record companies can spend BILLIONS of OUR TAXES to try to maintain their model, or they can find another way to do business. Right now, they are focusing on #1. We're still fighting the war on drugs, so they will probably likewise continue to send YOUR TAX MONEY down the drain trying to fix their profits for the rest of your lifetime.

  • On the post: Apple Trying To Run All Content Sales Through Its Own Sales System

    rooben ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2011 @ 04:32pm

    Re: Kindle doesn't do in-app purchases

    Read the article.
    CNET is saying not just In-App purchases, but any purchase that can be downloaded on the device (so that could be books, VOD, who knows)
    Now, THAT would really suck - so this would bring us back to 2003 where I could buy an app for my Treo, but then had to download it to my PC and sync it.
    That kinda thing would make me want to look for another tablet (i love my iPad).

  • On the post: Apple Trying To Run All Content Sales Through Its Own Sales System

    rooben ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2011 @ 04:26pm

    Kindle doesn't do in-app purchases

    There is no Kindle in-app purchasing on iOS, it is via Safari.

  • On the post: Google's Childish Response To Microsoft Using Google To Increase Bing Relevance

    rooben ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2011 @ 04:22pm

    Childish?

    Demonstrating how a competitor values Google's results isn't childish, its good business sense.
    Think of it this way - when you prepare to write an article, you use all sorts of sources to put your data together. This is techcrunch or some other competing website noticing that every time you write an article, you source techcrunch (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot).
    So, Techcrunch says "Techdirt uses OUR analysis and research and articles as a source - we must be THAT GOOD!" and then go on to say how techdirt must be in a sad state if they have to use techcrunch's research, and they should really go do the work themselves.
    Yeah, everyone knows that all reporters quote each other anyway, so its not really relevant, BUT its great press.

  • On the post: Cures For Paralysis, Diabetes And Blindness Hindered By Patents

    rooben ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2011 @ 12:25pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Crack me up - you are talking about ex-vitro fertilization. Sperm from a syringe. Instead of playing dumb, why don't you try to actually debate, instead of looking for a way to bring in ABORTION. This isn't mommy and daddy - its a sterile lab with eggs and sperm.
    The research that YOU posted said that these eggs were NEVER inside a mother, they are 100% from lab fertilization.

    So, they are eggs cooked up in a lab, and you think that God has a plan for each and every one. Too bad, I thought you might have a real debate. Can't argue that - people are magic!

    So - Lab babies, John Doe thinks that each one is precious. Do you think that the entire practice of lab fertilization should end (since, God wanted a man and woman only to have babies naturally), or are you really saying that if the lab creates 10 embryos to get 1 viable, that all 10 should be raised ala Octomom?

  • On the post: Cures For Paralysis, Diabetes And Blindness Hindered By Patents

    rooben ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2011 @ 11:16am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    And every sperm in your body, if it fertilizes and egg, can end up being a human being as well.
    Is that a baby in your book?
    So, you are calling murder every time a mother fertilizes 10 eggs, and then choses one to develop - is that mass murder? How about when a mother's body rejects a fertilized egg - is that manslaughter?

    The thing I really can't stand is people with this position, never look at the effects of their stance beyond the birth. If every fertilized egg is a potential human, and all potential humans have a right to exist, please tell me what you propose to do with the mass increases of poverty, population, and children in the system to support such a stance? Oh right, the churches should just take care of it, and you should only have sex when you are trying to make a baby.
    Right. Good luck with that.

  • On the post: Should MySpace Friends & Photos Be Enough Evidence To Convict Someone Of Criminal Gang Activity

    rooben ( profile ), 29 Dec, 2010 @ 01:39pm

    Re:

    First, Mr. Owen was not seen throwing gang signs.
    Second, if you live in the inner city/urban areas, its pretty much impossible NOT to hang out, or have friends who are associated with gangs. Your childhood friends, relatives, etc all might end up joining gangs; living in these areas, one doesn't just stop associating with people because of that (esp for self protection - you don't want to seem like a person who might be willing to snitch).

    Third, if you live in an area controlled by a certain gang, you also must not wear colors of another gang, or will face frequent beatings etc. The color of safety - Black, or, include the gang's color with your other clothing...it doesn't make you part of the gang, but it does make you blend in. Never wear green in a red gang area, if you want to live.

    This type of law is intentionally left vague, so that not much is needed to convict. There is absolutely no proof whatsoever that this guy had done anything criminal, except to be photographed with gang members, and having a grill.
    With that as evidence, just about every rapper right now should be convicted for the same crime.

  • On the post: Why Congress Isn't So Concerned With TSA Nude Scans & Gropes: They Get To Skip Them

    rooben ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2010 @ 12:50pm

    Re: Re: The REAL danger

    If you believe the far right, we have one as a president already - maybe this was part of the plan!

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